Downworld

Chapter 27

The moment Daud breathed his last there was a collective shuffle from out in the hall as his sworn servants were released from their magically policed vows. They only had a moment to enjoy their freedom before they'd be forced to swear to Malik and make him the new ruler of the Glen.

By that time, Malik was already resigned, and was trying to pretend he didn't want to crawl into a hole and cry. If everyone didn't know him better than that, they might not have guessed that he was taking the loss hard. Whatever else Daud had been, he hadn't been a half bad father.

His former household came to bear Daud's body away to where it would be burned immediately. We followed. By the time the fire burned out, the oaths had begun and Daud's household became Malik's.

I grit my teeth through the oaths; I might have been partly responsible for them becoming slaves again, and it might have been necessary for now, but I didn't have to like it.

Afra showed up not long after that, and made an oath of her own. Like the one she'd sworn to Daud years before, in exchange for him bringing her with him to the Glen, she swore not to interfere with Malik's reign. The wording was careful, leaving some with the impression that they were full allies, and to go against Malik was to have her as an enemy. The way she smirked at me as she said it told me she thought this was clever. Frankly, other people thinking she and Malik were allies was just as useful as them actually being allies, and less likely to result in unpleasant knives in the back.

Word about that spread pretty fast. Malik already had a bigger household than normal and with him and Afra, and Afra's sons -- admittedly, they had tiny households, better to keep them dependant on their mother -- seemingly united, the minor contenders who'd been eyeing the Glen from near and far turned tail and conceded. There was no fighting in the streets, or kidnappings and assassinations, which some preferred over open warfare. The only person who died was Daud.

And that was probably the most peaceful transition of a Territory to a new ruler that Downworld has ever seen.